Written by Samantha Henthorn
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Firstly, I would like to thank Anne of Random Things Tours for the invitation to join the blog tour for The Ghosts of Curmudgeon Avenue, and author Samantha Henthorn for providing the extract below.
I reviewed this brilliant book back in October 2019, and could not resist joing this blog tour!
Why not visit with some of these bloggers to see what they have to say about Book 4 in
The Curmudgeon Avenue series?
I reviewed this brilliant book back in October 2019, and could not resist joing this blog tour!
Why not visit with some of these bloggers to see what they have to say about Book 4 in
The Curmudgeon Avenue series?
The blurb:
The Ghosts of Curmudgeon AvenueThe house on Curmudgeon Avenue should be happy now, the nincompoop residents have all met their sorry ends.
But they haven't quite left... now that a new family move in can the house find peace?
Or are the ghosts of Curmudgeon Avenue going to interfere with the goings-on, romance and dramas that new residents bring?
Fiction
Satire
Humour
Enjoy this short extract from The Ghosts of Curmudgeon Avenue
Chapter 1: A November Funeral
On the day we return to Curmudgeon Avenue for the fourth time, the overcast clouds darkened until the sky sobbed, and the entire population of Whitefield wept. The mourning of Harold, Edith and Edna had been going on for quite some time, some would say for longer than is reasonably necessary. Three fatal household accidents in one day came as quite a shock to the population of this North Manchester town.
You may be wondering why I, Number One, Curmudgeon Avenue appear to be perturbed about the trio of nincompoop’s departure. Well, before you allow me to explain, I must first console and continue to update you about how the people they left behind are coping. The results have just come in for one resident in particular, and she is not doing well...
Imagine Beyonce. Now imagine a Whitefield version of Beyonce dressed by Primark and manicured by Mel’s Gel Nails. Now imagine that same Whitefield Beyonce starring in a budget version of Great Expectations as Miss Havisham, and you have your very own vision of Wantha Rose grieving for Edith Goatshed, a little bit sad about Edna’s passing – but as for Harold’s death? Not so much.
‘Are you ready, Wantha?’ Patchouli shouted through the letterbox of her old house. Today, there was no need for Miss Rose to find her lip liner, Wantha was wearing a full face covering black veil.
‘Innit’ Wantha said quietly as she locked the front door, and then flopped into the back seat of Gil Von Black’s Porsche. Tears and snot streamed down her face as the streets flitted by outside the car window, they approached the crematorium and the large group of mourners that had gathered for today’s triple funeral. Matteo Dubois and Francesca stood with an emotional looking woman displaying far too much cleavage for a funeral - would you believe, Babycham Barbara is Francesca’s mother? More from her later. Mrs Ali was there, of course, her son keeping the most popular shop in Whitefield open for her so that she could attend. Toonan and Small Paul, the postman who found Edith and alerted the authorities, Keeley Brimstone (remember her from the housing? Weird that she would come to Harold’s funeral but hey). Harry the Bastard, Pauline Foote – now she had no business attending, but she was here. A woman was standing behind a tree underneath an umbrella - like an uninvited mistress. But she was not a mistress - her shoes were pointed like a puffin’s beak; it was none other than Shania Goatshed! Harold had not heard from his sister since she sold their mother’s house from under his feet and made him homeless, yet here she was at his funeral, most likely making sure her brother was really dead.
But what of Edith’s son Ricky Ricketts? Oh, he was still at Curmudgeon Avenue with Gemma Hampsons and Baby Emma-Fidelity.
‘Come on, Gemma! I don’t want to be late for my own mother’s funeral!’ said Ricky, standing in the vestibule of heartbreak, the hearse had been parked outside for quite some time, along with another car for the three of them to travel in. Eventually, Gemma stopped faffing about with nappies and so on (for Emma-Fidelity, you understand).
‘Come on then; open the door!’ Gemma said to Ricky, as though he was the most annoying thing she had ever spoken to in her life. (Journalistic skills going to waste while on maternity leave, you understand.) Ricky tried and tried to open the front door, but it was not for budging. ‘It’s stuck, the door’s stuck!’ he said. ‘Do you think we should go out the back way?’
Gemma looked down at her shoes and thought about the damp underfoot outside. ‘Shift out the way Ricky,’ Gemma said, shoving poor Baby Emma-Fidelity into his arms, (big surprise baby eyes in situ.) She put her left foot on the door frame and heaved it open. This was followed by giving Ricky Ricketts the meanest death stare of implied uselessness that Gemma could muster – even though it was his mother’s funeral (Ha! Wait until she sees the flowers that Wantha Rose has sent!). She grabbed poor Baby Emma-Fidelity by her podgy torso, and they were gone, through the vestibule of heartbreak and out of the front door.
‘Did you see that?’ Harold said, floating through the partition wall. ‘They just opened the door, and out they went!’ he tried and failed the same manoeuvre that Gemma Hampsons had completed.
‘Never mind that! Did you see the look she gave to my nephew Ricky!? Oh! If looks could kill!’ laughed Edna. ‘We can’t go to our own funeral anyway, Harold, what would everyone think?!’
‘They can’t see us, Edna! And anyway, we’re all imprisoned here inside Number One Curmudgeon Avenue... the house that killed us!’ Harold said.
| Author Bio – Samantha Henthorn |
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 Samantha Henthorn was born in 1970-something in Bury, England. She has had short stories and poetry published in magazines. Her books include the Curmudgeon Avenue series (The Terraced House Diaries and The Harold and Edith adventures). '1962', 'Quirky Tales to Make Your Day' and 'Piccalilly' She has two cats, one dog, one gorgeous grown up daughter and one husband. When not reading or writing, she is listening to heavy metal and would be thrilled to bits if someone read her books. |
| Social Media Links – | |
| Web site | https://samanthahenthornfindstherightwords.blog |
| https://www.instagram.com/samantha.henthornauthor/ | |
| Goodreads | https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16004689.Samantha_Henthorn |
| Facebook Author Page | https://www.facebook.com/SamanthaHenthornAuthor/ |
| X | https://twitter.com/SamanthaHfinds |
| Newsletter | https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/d0q2h7 |
Nice one! Thank you so much for taking the time to join in the blog tour you are awesome!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the blog tour support x
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